Flow
by Happiness's Deceit
Summary: The world around you is a mirror, reflecting everything you see… A younger Sasuke gets a glimpse of the future. Set just before series starts.


_Naruto belongs to its respective publishers and creators. I own nothing par the story below._

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**Flow**

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He's surrounded by water that just keeps flowing onwards from every thing he sees.

There's no land—there's not _anything—_to indicate where he is, but somehow he just _knows_ that he's meant to be here and that _this is right_. He has a purpose here, he decides. So he takes a stumbling step forward. Surprisingly, he doesn't sink so he continues. And pretty soon he's walking father and farther and he isn't sure where he started from.

Time seems to be endless in this place, not just ignored but nonexistent. There is no light, no air, nothing to ever show he should be able to exist in this place. But he does, and there isn't anything he can do about it (he exists here).

He hears a gentle _plink_ of moving water (a sound he wonders why he didn't hear before) and turns. The space is as it's always been, empty and cold and just _flowing_. So he slides down to his knees and sits there for a moment, until he feels the brush of a hand on his shoulder. It is cool, like the flow of water, and does not startle him (_but the water around him is undisturbed_).

He remains where he is. The feeling grows warmer, and almost as if someone is walking towards him, the _plinking _is beginning again. The hand is there, real and alive and warm. He's not sure what possesses him to do anything, but he carefully gets to his feet and glances.

He takes a second glance.

But his eyes aren't deceiving him, and there is another _him_ walking towards him. And maybe the other _him _is a little bit older, darker, a little more weary (_or maybe it's a trick of the eyes)_. But the other _him_ watches and opens his mouth for just a moment before his body grows colder, darker. In reaction, the water seems to grow lighter, as if lights are glowing from beneath the surface, attempting to show off the brilliance of the new _him_ that is slowly approaching.

_His_ arms are widening, and he is frozen as his—duplicate?—seems so warm.

So he looks back a little bit less hesitantly, and takes a stiff step towards the other; it almost seems like instinct. A yearning rises in his chest, as if embracing the other will somehow make him more complete, more… Whatever it is, it just seemed _right_, so he can't stop himself from moving faster, closer and closer to _him_.

But he must have done something wrong because the _he's_ turned and is running, away from him and away from any sort of completion that could have ever occurred. A terrible feeling is welling up in his chest, burning and _aching_ and _it just won't stop_. He isn't sure what's going on, or why he's been left behind—but it all shows just one truth.

He has been left behind.

He crumples and tucks his knees to his chest, trying to get the burning to stop. For the first time, he looks at the water, at its murky depths that had seemed so clear before…

And stops.

A reflection watches him, knees tucked to his chest but in a more curious manner. They are identical, and he cannot help but watch the figure in the water as he stands.

Then he realizes why something seemed so wrong, and he freezes for a moment. The burning in his chest has disappeared by now, and only the resounding depths of the water show him answers. A hand is placed over the water, then plunged in—

He feels the_ warmth of skin and gasps_, falling back. The reflection remains where it is, watching and curious. It doesn't move, but it is him; it is his face, his eyes, his _body—_all that a reflection should be.

But the other _him_ had never had a reflection, and his eyes lift, almost unconsciously, to look for any sign of the other _him_. There is nothing, nothing but he and his reflection—

The water keeps flowing.

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_The world around you is a mirror, reflecting everything you see…_

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_Waah—it's been a long time since I wrote anything for Naruto. Comments?_


End file.
